Patches the pumpkin celebrates Halloween in space

It’s become quite a thing for people to attach various objects to the bottom of helium balloons and send them miles and miles above the surface of the earth. We’ve seen LG do this with its G2 smartphone, sending the device into the stratosphere. To celebrate a new smartphone app called the TOP Fruit Hub, a grandfather and his grandson carved a smiling pumpkin and attached it to a helium balloon.

The duo who sent the pumpkin into the stratosphere are grandfather Eugene Murray and his grandson Sebastian from Ireland. They called the pumpkin Patches and then created a special rig with a camera to send the jack-o’-lantern somewhere no jack-o’-lantern has gone before.

The pair used a 1600 g balloon filled with 3.5 m³ of helium. The giant balloon was attached to the platform that holds patches and a specially mounted camera. The camera in the pumpkin was attached to a five-foot parachute so the camera and pumpkin could make their way back to earth after the adventure was over.

Patches reportedly climbed at a rate of 5 m/s ultimately reaching 32 km into the stratosphere. Temperatures encountered were as low as -20°C and the video clearly shows ice accumulating on the pumpkin’s carved face. Once Patches reached its highest altitude and began its journey back to earth, it took 30 minutes for the pumpkin to make it back to solid ground.